#74_Ginataang Bilo-Bilo (Kineler)

Ginataang Bilo-Bilo
(Kineler)

This is another comfort food that I enjoyed growing up. Ginataan is usually a mixture of root crops or tubers, fruits and glutinous rice balls or bilo-bilo (kineler in Pangasinan) cooked with coconut cream. It is usually served as snacks or merienda and it is very popular food among the Filipinos that almost everybody knows how to make it. It is one of those make-it-up-as-you-go kind of cooking. Really easy to make.

GLUTINOUS RICE BALLS or

BILO-BILO

To make Bilo-Bilo Balls: mix 2 cups of glutinous rice flour and about 1 cup water and stir well to form a soft dough, adding some more water if the dough is too dry and hard. Pinch off little piece at a time and roll into balls between the palms of your hands, tossing them in rice flour to prevent the balls from sticking together. These balls resemble miniature marshmallows.

To make the Ginataan: In a pot bring about 8 cups of water to rolling boil then drop these rice balls into the boiling water. As you drop them they go all the way to the bottom of the pot, then after a couple of minutes they float. Continue to boil uncovered for about 5 minutes after they float.

Add in the prepared tubers, 1 cup of white sugar, the cooked sago and slices of langka or jack fruit. Cover and simmer until the tubers are tender. Adjust the sugar, adding more according to taste.

Dissolve some rice flour with water and gradually pour this mixture into the pot and at the same time stirring it vigorously to thicken the sauce. Simmer for about 10 minutes.

Add 1 can of coconut cream and continue to cook for about 5 minutes.

DONE!!

The reason I add in the coconut cream last is because when coconut milk or cream is cooked for a long time, oil will form and I don't want my ginataan to have coconut oil floating on it.

THE ROOT CROPS or TUBERS

Kamote (Sweet potato), Gabi (taro), and purple sweet potato ( I don't know the name of this purple one)


Prepare tubers by peeling and slice them into cubes.


TAPIOCA PEARL or SAGO

Cooking the SAGO is a little tricky. When I first cooked some, I boiled them for more than 1 hour and still weren't cooked. It was quite a frustration for me. Then I called my friend, Gloria Parayno, and she told me how she cooks them: Boil them twice.

HERE'S HOW:

First boiling:

In a pot bring water to a rolling boil then drop the sago into the boiling water. Quickly stir so they won't stick to the bottom of pot. Do not cover. Let it continue to boil, stirring ocassionally, until partly transluscent, the center opaque. Turn the heat off and put the lid on and leave it covered for about 1 hour.

Second boiling:

Discard the water and replace it with cold water and then return the pot to the heat. Let it boil uncovered for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Take it off the heat, but keep it covered for an hour or longer. Then rinse the sago well with cold water in a colander.

Each piece of the sago pearls should be cooked all the way through but firm and a little chewy.

Note:

I also found out that after boiling them the first time, cover for one hour then put them in a bowl covered with plastic wrap and refrigerate, the next day before using rinse them out in a colander with cold water. I didn't have to boil them twice.

#73_Baked Siopao or Meat Rolls

Baked Siopao or Meat Rolls

with Chicken-Pork Adobo filling

These are made the same way as the Siopao or Steamed Buns, recipe #72, click here), except of course, they are baked instead of steamed.

For the fillings, I combined chicken adobo and pork adobo which were left overs, and put a sliced of boiled egg in each bun.

If you have any left over meat like adobo, giniling or bistek, just add some sugar and thicken the mixture with cornstarch. Make sure to dissolve the cornstarch with cold water first before adding in to the meat mixture, then cook over medium heat until mixture thickens.

Here's some other ideas for the fillings:
Can use some roast beef, roast pork or roast turkey with some cubed cream cheese and cooked bacon. Now, we're talking Americanized Siopao!

As for the buns, you can basically use most kinds of bread dough, but the best kind is the Pan de Sal dough because it will hold up to the moist filling. You need a bread that has allot of substance, not the soft and fluffy bread. Before I learned how to make bread I used the frozen dinner rolls and they worked really well, but if you've mastered making your own dough, I guarantee you that you'll never want to go back to commercial frozen doughs.

May I suggest these dough recipes to use for the buns?
Pan de Sal recipe #20, click here.
Pumpkin Dinner Rolls, recipe #192, click here.
Potato Dinner Rolls, recipe #63, click here.

Follow procedure for Steamed Siopao
then arrange the meat-filled rolls
on a parchment paper-lined sheet pan.

Let rise for about 30 minutes or till doubled in size.

Bake the Siopao or Meat Rolls in a
preheated 350 degrees oven for 18-20 minutes.

Serve warm.


Update: 11-02-11

Here's my latest version of meat roll...
Pan de Pao
or Chicken Adobo Pan de Sal
http://pinoyamericanrecipes.blogspot.com/2011/10/326pan-de-pao-and-pan-de-queso.html

#72_SIOPAO or STEAMED BUNS

SIOPAO or STEAMED BUN

With pork adobo fillings

Siopao is Chinese steam buns usually filled with meats, either chicken or pork. It is a very popular snack in the Philippines paired with halo-halo.

As usual I made the dough in the bread machine

Dough Recipe:

1-1/2 cups warm water

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup canola oil

1 tsp. salt

4 cups flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp. yeast

Put all the ingredients in the bread machine pan with the water at the bottom of pan. Place the dry ingredients on top. Turn the machine on dough cycle. This will take 30 minutes for the whole cycle to stir and knead the dough. When the cycle is finished turn off the machine and leave the dough in the bread machine to rise until doubled in bulk.

Take out dough and divide it into 20-24 pieces.

Roll out each piece into about 6 inches discs, should be thinner around the edges. Place about 1 heaping tablespoon of filling on the center of dough. Gather the edges, using the N-S and E-W or the 12 o'clock-6 o'clock and 9 o'clock-3 o'clock fashion. Meaning, take the 2 opposite sides and pinch them together, then the other 2 sides together, then gather the rest of the sides, pinching them altogether to seal well.

( to prevent the dough from drying out, cover the rest with plastic wrap while working on each piece of dough).

SIOPAO READY FOR STEAMING

Oil the bottom of the filled dough before placing them on a piece of paper. You can use 2 1/2 square inch wax paper or parchment paper or just simply use muffin liners. Place the filled siopao smooth side up on the papers.

Let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes, before putting them in the steamer to steam.


Don't forget to place a clean kitchen towel over the steamer before putting the lid on so the water from the vapor will not drip on the buns.

Steam the siopao for 20 minutes.

STEAMED SIOPAO

For fillings you can add a sliced boiled egg, a piece of bacon, some mushrooms, etc.


The beauty of making your own siopao at home
is you can customized the fillings,
not always the asado style which
is very common with the commercial siopao.


OPPPPSIES!!


On my first batch of siopao, I forgot to place kitcken towel over the steamer. Now I got some wrinkled siopao!

If you prefer asado for fillings, here is the recipe from my sister in NZ. I never used it as I always used pork or chicken adobo for the fillings. She also gave me the recipe of the dough which I've been using.

For Asado Filling:

2 lb. pork, cut up

3 tbsp. canola oil

1 small onion, chopped

ground pepper
1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups water

2 pieces star anise

5 tbsp. cornstarch plus enough water to dissolve it

1) In a skillet, heat the oil and saute the onions until translucent

2) Add the meat and continue to saute until it is no longer pink

3) Add the soy sauce and the star anise. Continue to saute until the meat runs clear juice

4) Add the water and simmer until meat is tender. Season with pepper

5) Add the cornstarch dissolved in water. Stir until well until thickened.

6) Discard the star anise seeds before filling the siopao.

#71_STEAK AND BAKED POTATO

Hubby's Sunday Dinner: top sirloin steak, steamed potato and steamed green and yellow beans.

If it is still too cold to grill steak outside or just want to grill one piece of steak but not worth starting the grill or for any other reason, just use braising technique which is what I usually do do for my husband's steak, since he is the only one who eats steaks in our home (a family of 2).

To do this, heat up a pan without any oil. Rinse the meat, and while it is still dripping a little, place it in the pan and drizzle some worcestershire sauce then sprinkle dry rub on the meat or SEASON ALL, put a lid on and cook on medium low heat. Juice will come out from the meat and let that juice cook down, turning the meat once, until the juice caramelized.

Serve with baked potato and steamed broccoli or other veggies.

Steamed potato in pressure cooker, the result is just like baked potato in the oven.

Instead of baking the potato in the oven which takes 1 hour, I put it in the pressure cooker and let it steam for 15 minutes. The result is like just baked potato.

NOTE:

For a more flavorful steak, prepare the meat the night before by rinsing it and pat dry with paper towel. Sprinkle with dry rub and place it in a ziplock bag and refrigerate overnight. When ready to cook, put the meat in a pan and add a couple tablespoons of water and drizzle with worcestershire sauce then follow the rest of the directions above.

#70_ORIENTAL SALAD

ANIKKA'S ORIENTAL SALAD

This is always a hit in the Johnson's family get-together whenever our daughter-in-law, Anikka, brings it to the family dinners.

A "hodgepodge salad", it has a lot of different textures and has crunchiness from the ramen noodles, nuts, and cabbage. This salad is a very excellent accompaniment to deli sandwiches or any B-B-Q dinners. Or, it can also be a dinner in itself as it is filled with meats and veggies.

I divided this recipe into 5 parts. Don't be intimidated by the recipe because it is actually easy to do. Basically most of the work is just prep work, then assembly is easy as 1-2-3!

Here's the parts:

a) the dressing

b) the ramen noodles

c) the vegetables
d) cooked chicken breasts

e) to assemble the salad

The dressing can be made ahead of time with these ingredients then refrigerated until needed.

(a) Ingredients for the dressing:

2 tbsp. rice vinegar

3 tbsp. soy sauce

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. dry mustard

1/2 tsp. garlic salt or garlic powder + salt

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 tsp. sesame seed oil

Procedure:

1) Combine all of the ingredients listed above in a blender and blend.

2) While blending, emulsify with 3/4 cup of canola oil.

3) Put in a jar with lid and refrigerate until needed.

(b) Sliced almonds, ramen noodles and sesame seeds

This part of the recipe can also be made ahead of time then placed in a plastic container with tight lid.

Ingredients:

1 pgk. sliced almonds (2 oz)

2 pkgs ramen noodles

1/4 cup sesame seeds

Procedure:

1) Combine and spread all three ingredients in a cookie sheet and toast in oven for 8 minutes.

2) Set aside.

Red Cabbage shredded in a food processor

(c) VEGETABLES NEEDED:

1 lb. bag Coleslaw

1 green pepper, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

5 sprigs green onions, sliced

Combine all the vegetables in a large bowl and refrigerate.

If packaged Coleslaw is not available, you can make your own by finely shredding 1/2 head of green cabbage and 1/2 head of red cabbage and 2 medium size carrots. A food processor will be very handy in this kind of task but do not process both cabbages together at the same time as the red cabbage will bleed through and will make the green cabbage become red.

If not using a food processor, grate carrots with the coarse side of a hand grater. And slice the cabages very thinly with a knife.

(d) THE CHICKEN BREASTS:

As always, I used 3 chicken breasts from the rotisseri chicken from Costco, and cut them into cubes when I made this salad today. (I should be getting some kind of royalty from Costco for plugging their product!!! wishful thinking!). I haven't made this recipe using fresh chicken.

If using fresh chicken breasts, Anikka uses the spice mix from the spice packet from the ramen noodles to season the chicken. Cook the chicken in some water with onions, garlic and the spice mix. Simmer on low heat until the meat is tender. Slice chicken into cubes.

TO ASSEMBLE THE SALAD:

1) Into the vegetables in a bowl, add the ramen noodle mixture an the cubed chicken and gently toss together.

2) At this point, you can take the bowl to a pot luck along with the dressing in jar.

3) Just before serving, drizzle the dressing on the salad and mix well.

4) Sprinkle some cashews on top.

ENJOY!!

NOTES:

1) The sesame seed oil is very concentrated oil, therefore, you don't want to put too much of it in the dressing otherwise its flavor will overpower the other ingredients.

2) To emulsify with the canola oil, pour the oil into the vinegar/soy sauce mixture in the blender a little at a time.

#69_ JAMBALAYA ON PASTA

Jambalaya on Mostaccioli Pasta

Fast and easy pasta dish!

I first experimented on this recipe last year after ordering it a few times at Mimi's Cafe. I took a picture so I can dissect it (see recipe #27 Chicken a la Jambalaya). I had made this dish a few times since then but it was always different each time. One time it had pork, one time it had pork and chicken, and no sausage, etc. But it is good no matter what you do with it as long as you use the seasoning.

The reason this is fast and easy dish to do is that I used pre-cooked chicken. Actually, rotisseri chicken from Costco. Of course if using fresh chicken, you need to saute it longer and simmer longer. I even used the heat-n-serve kind of sausage. So actual cooking time is under 30 minutes.

Here is the recipe:

2-3 tbps. olive oil or canola oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 pieces chicken breast, pre-cooked, sliced in chunks

1 package breakfast sausage

1 small carrots, sliced thin

1/2 of green bell pepper, chunks

1/2 of red bell pepper, chunks

2 ribs of celery, sliced diagonally

15 oz. can tomato sauce

1 lb. mostaccioli pasta

2 tsp. cajun seasoning

1 tsp. garlic powder

chopped parsley for garnish (optional)

1) Cook the pasta according to package directions.

2) In a large skillet heat the oil and add the onions, saute until onions are transluscent.

3) Add the sausage, the cooked chicken, the cajun seasoning and garlic powder. Saute for a couple of minutes.

4) Stir in the tomato sauce and simmer for about 2-3 minutes.

5) Add in the carrots and simmer for 1 minute.

6) Add in the celery and the red and green bell peppers and stir well.

7) Mix in the cooked pasta and stir to blend well.

8) Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with chopped parsley.

SERVE HOT. BON APPETIT!!

NOTE:

1) If you can make your own cajun seasoning it is better so you can adjust the salt. I find the store-bought ones have plenty of salt in them.

2) You can add pork loins and shrimps to be more of Jambalaya.

3) If using fresh chicken, you need to saute it longer and simmer longer until the chicken is tender.

#68_PANCIT SOTANGHON GUISADO

The Conventional Pancit Sotanghon Guisado
with Meats and Veggies

Puto which are steamed rice cakes (entry#61) are great accompaniments to the Pancit

and the calamansi are used as condiments (entry#66). Split a calamansi in half and squeeze its juice on the noodles to enhance the noodles' flavor.

Before I go further, let me create a little glossary here for those who are not familiar with this dish.

PANCIT is a name for Philippine noodles

SOTANGHON is a type or a variety of noodle

GUISADO means stirfried or pan fried or sauteed. It is a method the noodles are cooked.

There you go, now you have an interpretation of the title which is:

STIRFRIED SOTANGHON NOODLES

Pancit Sotanghon, dried noodles

Other names for sotanghon are, bean thread noodles, glass noodles and Chinese vermicelli.

Other types of noodles are made from flour, others are made from rice which are called rice sticks.

The reason why sotanghon noodles are called bean thread noodles is because they are made from mung beans. I'm not going to discuss about mung beans at this time, but maybe in the future.

Sotanghon noodles soaking in warm water.

I can only guess why these noodles are called glass noodles. Maybe it is because when soaked in water, they become transluscent and resemble glass.

And......

I have no clue why they are called vermicelli. I thought that is an Italian pasta.

There are many different ways to cook noodles, but the conventional way of cooking sotanghon is strir fried with a lot of different kinds of veggies in the ingredient such as cabbage, pea pods, carrots, etc. But my favorite kind is very simple, no veggies, but chicken only.

This is Pancit Sotanghon done my way.

Quick and simple but very flavorful. The noodles are firm, but not dry. Perfectly moist and not mushy, and no veggies, just chicken. Mmmmmmmmmm, really full of flavor!!

Recipe for Sotanghon Guisado: (Updated)

Ingredients:

1 package (1 lb.) sotanghon noodles

3 tbsp canola oil

2 cups (or more) cooked chicken, shredded

3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 onion, chopped

1/4 cup soy sauce or patis (or half and half)

2 water or chicken broth, or (bouillon or paste in 2 cups hot water )

1 tbsp. anatto oil (click here for the recipe #67 Anatto Oil)

freshly cracked peppercorns or

whole peppercorns
Veggies (optional)

Procedure:

1) In a pot or a large bowl soak the noodles in warm water (about 15-20 minutes)

2) While the noodles are soaking, heat the oil in a wok or a large skillet over medium heat

3) Saute the garlic until fragrant, not browned.

4) Add the onion and continue to saute until the onions are wilted.

5) Add the chicken and continue to saute for about 4 minutes then add the soy sauce or patis.

6) Turn the heat to medium high then add the broth and bring it to a boil.

7) Stir in the anatto oil and the pepper. Turn the heat down to medium and simmer for about 3 minutes.

8) Drain the noodles and mix them in with the simmering chicken and its broth.

9) Continue to stir until the noodles are tender but firm and not mushy.

Notes from MaMely:

1) From my observations, the amount of broth needed to cook the sotanghon noodles depends on how long the noodles were pre-soaked in the water. The longer they are soaked in the water, the lesser broth they needed to cook in. If they are soaked only for just say, 5 minutes, you need more than 2 cups of water or broth. The liquid is the key to make a perfect Sotanghon Guisado. Too much liquid makes the noodles to be mushy and break up to tiny pieces; not enough liquid makes the noodles dry and rubbery.

2) I used rotisserie chicken from Costco and by simmering water with the chicken, broth is produced. If you have some chicken broth on hand, that is perfect, definitely use that in place of water. Sometimes I use some chicken base in paste form but it contains plenty of salt just like bouillon cubes. I'm trying to avoid too much salt in my diet nowadays.

#67_Annatto Oil

ANATTO SEEDS

Anatto seeds are used for flavoring and for coloring agent in Philippine cuisine. It is commonly called "atsuete" or "atchuete". So when a product from the Philippines has anatto coloring, the manufacturer can claim that it has no artificial flavoring or artificial coloring in their ingredients because anatto seeds are natural ingredient.

There are two ways that I know of to extract the coloring from the seeds. One way is to soak the seeds in warm water, but this process takes a while for the coloring to come out. The other way is to make annatto oil which is quicker.

Annatto seeds in olive oil
I used to make a small amount of annatto oil each time I needed some for food coloring. But I learned from Emerril Lagasse, a FoodTV network host, that I can make 1 cup or so, then use whatever I needed and store the rest in the fridge. Brilliant idea!

To make Annatto Oil:

Put a cup of canola oil or olive oil in a pot and pour in a package (2oz) of annatto seeds. Simmer for about 10 minutes on medium low heat. Let cool.

Put ANNATTO OIL in a clean jar with tight-fitting lid and store in the fridge.

Now I'm ready to make Pancit or Afritada....

recipe coming up folks!

NOTE:

Emerril said to take out the seeds before storing in a jar. Okay, Emerril, I will take them out later!

#66_CALAMANSI JUICE

CALAMANSI JUICE

This fruit drink is very rich in Vitamin C

CALAMANSI OR CALAMONDIN FRUITS

My friend Virgie from San Leandro, California, sent me these gorgeous calamansi from her calamansi tree. I would love to have one in my yard too, but they don't grow in cold climate like Utah.

Although these citrus fruits are native to the Philippines, some resources say they can also grow in Hawaii and Florida and obviously in California, but I don't believe they are cultivated commercially. Now, I'm not so sure about this and I stand corrected.

Calamansis are relative to mandarin oranges or pomelos, except they are sour, their peels are thin, and they have very juicy pulps. They have plenty of uses such as: removing stains on fabrics, removing stains on the skin specially the hands. I remember my father used to scrub his hands with the fruits after a day's work at the shoe-making shop to remove the stains in his hands and to smooth the calluses. This trick really worked well.

Calamansi fruits are excellent to use as fruit drinks similar to lemonade and are favorite condiments for pancit guisado and pancit Malabon.

I have a good memory of these fruits. When we were kids my sisters and I would cut a calamansi in half and sprinkle some salt on the cut side and suck the juice just for the fun of it. I also used to peel one and pop it in my mouth...either way was sooo sour, they made my whole face puckered!! It amazes me that I've never had a desire to do this since I became an adult.

PULPY CALAMANSI JUICE

Favorite fruit drinks among the Filipinos

To make a good CALAMANSI JUICE:

1) Boil 1 cup water and 2 tablespoons white sugar until water is reduced to half. Let cool.

2) Squeeze juice of about 10 calamansi fruits (about 1/4 cup) into a tall glass. Take out seeds.

3) Pour cooled syrup into the glass. Add some cold water to make one full glass.

4) Stir thoroughly. Can put some ice cubes in it.

Makes one 12 oz. glass fruit drink.

NOTES:

1) If you prefer not to make syrup, just use plain sugar or honey to sweeten the drink.

2) Do not use hot water with the extracted juice so as not to kill the vitamin C content of the juice.

#65_GLUTINOUS RICE CAKE WITH TOPPING

Latik or Nilatikan
(Glutinous Rice Cake with Latik Topping)

It is always fun to go to Filipino get-togethers because we play "name games" on the food we bring. Just like with this rice cake, someone from the Tagalog region call this "bibingkang malagkit", another one from Manila said they call it "bibingkang kakanin", in Bicol, they call it "biko". I'm from Pangasinan and we call it "latik" or "nilatikan" over there. One thing we all agree on though is that it is yummy, no matter how we call it.

Latik refers to the caramelized sauce made of coconut cream and panucha (molasses cake) and is used as topping for this particular rice cake. It also refers to the kakanin (rice cake) itself, thus latik.

On the otherhand, in Tagalog, latik refers to the curdles from coconut milk when making coconut oil.

Confused???!! I don't blame you because I'm too! That's why I chose "GLUTINOUS RICE CAKE WITH TOPPING" for the title.

In this recipe, I used light brown sugar instead of the panucha for the topping. Most of the time though, I use the bottled coconut jam or katiba, found in most Asian stores, for the topping. It is a shortcut to making this dessert...it is quick, less work and less messy.

If you decide to use the bottled coconut jam, heat it in a pot with some coconut milk to make it more spreadable. Do not microwave.

RECIPE FOR NILATIKAN:

4 cups glutinous rice
4 cups water
1/2 can coconut cream
2 cups white sugar

TOPPING:
1 1/2 cans coconut cream
2 cups light brown sugar

Cook rice just like the procedure in Biko recipe #7, click here.

1) Rinse glutinous rice with cold water, drain well. Add the water and cook in a rice cooker just like cooking regular rice.
2) When cooked, stir in the sugar and coconut cream. Mix well.


3) Spread the mixture into a greased 9x13" baking pan.
(Sorry, this is a bad picture as the sauce looks more orange in color than dark brown. I guess I have to blame the lighting).

4) Pour the latik on top and smooth it out.
5) Bake in a pre-heated 350 degrees oven for 45 minutes.
6) Let cool before slicing.

HOW TO MAKE THE TOPPING (LATIK):
1) In a non-stick pot, combine the coconut cream and the brown sugar.
2) Boil, stirring often, until thick but of spreadable consistency.